Julie Bruck: The Last Two Jews of Kabul
When his roommate finally expired at eighty,
Zebulon said he was relieved to be rid of Isaak.
The pair had held out in a decaying synagogue
under Mujahedeen, Taliban, Americans, more Taliban.
William Astore: Integrity Optional
There is something distinctly dishonorable about waging wars kept viable only by lies, obfuscation, and propaganda.
Karen J. Greenberg: Donald Trump’s Document Grab
A refusal to share information has been part of the Washington scene far longer than the current moment.
Edward Harkness: My Father Meets Margaret Bourke-White 
He finds a Hershey bar
in his breast pocket, offers her a piece.
She flicks her cigarette into the dark,
takes the chocolate and says, Thanks, kiddo.
Benjamin Jensen: Ukraine’s rapid advance against Russia shows mastery of 3 essential skills for success in modern warfare
Ukrainian forces, aided by Western firepower, have upset traditional military logic once again.
Video: The Kites
A girl is playing on the green slopes of a valley in Kurdistan, on the border between Iran and Iraq, when her kite is suddenly swept across the river by the wind. Three boys on the other side see her calling for help, but cannot make out what she is saying: she is just too far away. Separated by the river, the children try to communicate with each other – yet between them lie the explosive remnants of past wars.
Houman Harouni: The Dervish
The postures I held for long breaths by the flow of the Ganges I did not hold to achieve light I held no star in sight as I turned my … Continue reading
Michael Simms: The Horses
People loved her as they might love
A flag or a map or a story
Of a country of green pastures
And low stone walls
Rupert Brooke: The Fish
O world of lips, O world of laughter,
Where hope is fleet and thought flies after,
Of lights in the clear night, of cries
That drift along the wave and rise
Tom Engelhardt: Living in a Sci-fi World
Honestly, if you had described this America to me more than half a century ago, I would have laughed in your face.
Farrah Hassen: End the Collective Punishment of Afghans
With innocent Afghans impoverished and starving, the U.S. must return money that’s rightfully theirs.
John Balaban: Anna Akhmatova Spends the Night on Miami Beach
What killed her was the talk, the empty eyes,
which made her long for the one person in ten thousand
who could say her name, who could take her home,
giving her a place between Auden and Apollinaire
Robert Lipsyte: Being Anything But a Good Sport in Saudi Arabia
Here’s the big question in Jock Culture these days: Is the Kingdom of Golf being used to sportswash the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Kimberly Parish Davis: Forever and Ever
…they watched television or surfed around the Internet for news about what was going on in Palestine. There had been a lot of fighting—a lot of bombed out buildings. One website told about the attack at the School where Hanna’s little brother was killed, and she was probably dealing with that while Emma was news surfing.
